If I remember to keep it up, I’m doing a new feature each week called What I’m Reading Wednesday. I don’t always report on everything I read, especially if I don’t finish it, so it would be fun (maybe) and informative (hopefully) for friends to see what I’m currently reading. I’d also like to hear what you are reading! So here is the first edition:

Print: I have been a fan of Cameron Crowe since I read Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and have followed his career since. His experience traveling with bands was featured in the movie Almost Famous. So far, I am loving his memoir, The Uncool, as it’s a candid and fun read.

Ebook: When I’m reading a print book, I also have an e-book going for reading before bed or when I’m out and about. Because the gorgeous book jacket intrigued me, I started The Irish Goodbye, a family drama by Heather Aimee O’Neill, and so far, I am enjoying it.

Audio: For my current listen, I am bout 1/4 into Parents Weekend, but the narrator is annoying me a bit, so I am going to something else but will get the print book so I can find out what happens.

Please comment and let me know what you’re reading.

This book has been on my radar for quite some time, and I decided it was time to read it since I was in the mood for a good thriller. It did not disappoint. It’s the twistiest twisted thriller I’ve read in a long time, and I couldn’t put it down. It covers all the thrilling plot devices of a compelling read, such as unreliable narrators, whiplash-inducing turns galore, and “lying liars.” I’m loath to say anymore about the plot lest I ruin it for readers, but the title says it all, “Look Closer,” and that means over, under, inside, and even from afar.

I recommend the audio format, which has multiple narrators. It is perfect for readers who like Harlan Coben, Linwood Barclay, and books that incorporate the “lying liars” trope, such as Ashley Elston’s The First Lie Wins and Julie Clark’s The Lies I Tell.

A few months ago, Ann Patchett raved about this book, calling it a huge bestseller. Well, she was right—it was a fabulous book—and while it made a brief appearance on the NYT bestseller list, it deserves to be more widely read.

Set in a small midwestern town, this story of two families who become entwined by various circumstances is a quiet tale of flawed people trying to overcome their mistakes — there were many. Starting after the close of WWII and continuing over the next 40 years, it was an absorbing story, though the last 1/4 was a little rushed.

This is an excellent book for readers of Ann Patchett, Richard Russo, Elizabeth Strout, and Anne Tyler. Also perfect for novels about marriages, including Sue Miller’s Monogamy and Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety.

A bit of a trigger warning. This book has a couple of gut punches that required a few tissues. Since this is the fourth “weep-worthy” book I’ve read this past year (others were The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E Smith, and Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall), I think I need to read happier books for a while.

I have always been obsessed with real-life hauntings, whether the spirits reside in manors, castles, hospitals, or mental asylums, so I veer towards any book about “true” ghosts and spooks. However, if I were ever to be confronted by a spirit, I would most likely be traumatized for life, but that doesn’t stop me from loving books about them.

Richard Estep is a respected paranormal investigator who writes books about real (and presumed) hauntings, making them a fast and fun read for anyone wanting to get their spook on. In this book, Estep covers many known and lesser-known hauntings, providing a bit of history and sometimes including his own discoveries with fact-based findings (sometimes the experiences of others don’t always live up to being proven), with photos. This is a great book to have handy for reading spurts.

Other books I enjoyed by this author are Asylum 49, which is based on an infamous haunted nursing home/hospital in Utah, and Spirits of the Cage, which is based on a medieval prison.

Perfect for fans of TV “reality” shows such as Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters, and the podcast, “Spooked.”

But wait! There’s more! Additional recommendations for haunted house novels for wimps coming soon.

Over the summer, I read four novels of family drama and dysfunction, one of my favorite fiction topics.

Wreck by Catherine Newman is the sequel to my favorite book from last year, Sandwich, and while it was great to see how Rocky (Rachel) was faring, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous book. However, Rocky, dealing with a chaotic family life while contending with an unknown illness, kept my interest. Read it if you loved the first book. Due to be published in late October.

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean was a book I had been looking forward to reading for months, full of family drama with an intriguing thread of mystery. However, I was ultimately disappointed. Some of the scenes seem to go on forever, and about halfway through, I got bored, although I did love the bombshell ending. However, don’t let my crankiness deter you from reading it, as I know others who have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely? by Sarah McCoy was a, well, lovely novel based on the life of Delores Hart, an actress from the 1950s who left Hollywood to become a Benedictine nun. It is billed as a similar read to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and it was comparable in pace and tone. The dual-timeline story (1969 and 1991) kept my interest, but it was a little predictable — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown. While I generally love this author, the plot didn’t initially appeal to me, so I put off reading it. Then I started hearing about how good it was, so I dove in and loved it; it will be on my list of favorite books of the year. Taking place primarily at the dawn of the Internet in the early 1990s, the story of a father and daughter living off the grid is a blend of character study, coming-of-age, and mystery. It brought back memories of using dial-up Internet with modems, with AOL/Hotmail/Yahoo/Juno email services. It also reminded me of the real-life story of a father and daughter who lived off the grid in Portland’s Forest Park. It inspired Jennie Shortridge to write a novel about it in When She Flew (click on the title for my full review).

Happy Fall to everyone!

As usual, Jance writes a crackerjack mystery featuring Joanna Brady, who displays excellent investigative skills with diplomacy and empathy when dealing with the characters who populate these books. The setting of Southern Arizona is excellent, and I love how she incorporates real-life landmarks and settings into the story. This can work as a standalone mystery, as Jance does a good job of explaining events from previous books. However, for the whole experience, it’s best to start at the first book she wrote about Joanna (32 years ago!) and work your way through the series. Also, the Beaumont series is excellent and remains my favorite of Jance’s series.

Trigger Warning: I usually don’t do these, but I think readers should go into this knowing many of the killer’s victims are children.

Even though I have no interest in biking a long distance (or any distance for that matter!), I enjoy reading about challenging trips, especially bicycle journeys. This one was especially appealing since I’m familiar with all the coastal areas from Oregon to California. I loved it when he was describing the journey and experiences on the road, but the digressions to other parts of his life and the history lessons got a little distracting. At the risk of sounding shallow, he made a few errors in location names at the beginning of the book, such as going to Mt. Hood and visiting the “Stanley Hotel.” While he is correct in saying it was featured in the movie The Shining (the exterior anyway), the Mt Hood hotel is actually Timberline Lodge; the Stanley Hotel is in Colorado. Then in Portland, he said they went to “Jack’s Grill,” which should have been “Jake’s Grill.” Too picky? You make the call…

All in all, it was a fast read, and the author has an appealing style of writing, but if I were to recommend a book about bicycling the West Coast, I would recommend Jedidiah Jenkins’s To Shake the Sleeping Self and Barbara Savage’s story of her worldwide bicycle journey, Miles from Nowhere. For a bike journey from the POV of a middle-aged man, Bruce Weber’s Life is a Wheel is excellent.

Although this novel was popular a few years ago, it didn’t appeal to me, and I’m not sure why. However, I needed an audiobook and had heard that this one was well done, so I got it from Libby. It turned out that I loved this lovely story about surviving loss and finding family. Readers who want a “feel-good” and heart-warming tale similar to The Wedding People and Remarkably Bright Creatures will enjoy this. Authors who narrate their own books aren’t always the best choice, but Rowley did a great job.